Hypothetically Speaking
by isis-sg1
Summary: Karen Vick, fifteen minutes of freedom and a muffin lead to insight on the mystery that Shawn Spencer


Karen Vick smiled to herself as she climbed out her car. It was of those very rare moments where she had fifteen minutes to spare. Every thing seemed to be going her way. No major disasters had broken out anywhere, her detectives were working hard on minor cases, Baby Iris was finally sleeping through the night and Shawn Spencer and Co were no where to be seen, although Karen wasn't sure if that last one was a good thing or not.

She slammed the car door behind her and locked the car, the lights flashed and the car beeped, signaling it as impregnable.

She stepped up onto the curb and strode down the pavement and pushed open the door to her favorite café. The strong smell of coffee and Danish hit her the second she entered the room, the smell only getting stronger as she walked up to the counter.

"I'll have a medium half caff latte, no sugar," she said as she ordered her usual. Her eyes drifted to the cabinet on the left displaying all sorts of different pastries and cakes. "You know what?" She asked the man behind the counter. "I think I'll have one of those blueberry muffins too," she smiled.

The man quickly completed her order and handed over a steaming mug of coffee and a blueberry muffin on a plate. She paid, lifted the mug and plate, one each hand and turned towards the door. There was no way that she was going to sit inside on a sunny day like this during the few spare minutes she actually had free from the police station.

She pushed the door open with her hip and instantly scanned the small seating area for a free table. The café was always popular so you never knew if you'd find a place to seat. There were a couple of free tables but Karen's eyes fell on a lone customer, sitting on the outskirts of the seating area, a paper in his hand and a mug of coffee in the other. Karen wondered what was rarer, her having free time, or finding this man alone and quiet.

She maneuvered around the tables and chairs and stopped in front of the man. "This seat taken?" She asked.

The man looked up, a flicker of confusion passed over his face before a wide smile replaced it. "Nope," he answered.

She pulled back the spare seat and sat down, placing her plate and mug on the table.

"That a medium half caff latte, no sugar?" He asked.

Karen looked surprised. "How did you?" She shook her head as he smiled. "Never mind."

Shawn folded the newspaper up and placed it to one side. "What are you doing here?" He asked.

"Managed to find a few spare minutes, thought I'd escape before they realize I've disappeared." She took a sip of her steaming coffee, careful not to burn her tongue.

"How's Iris?"

Karen nodded, "Good."

"That's good."

"And your father?"

"Same old," Shawn shrugged, "Fishing, the races…tanning salons." He added with a shiver.

Karen didn't want to know what that was about. "What about you? What are you doing here?"

"Same as you actually, had a free moment. We've been pretty busy actually. I hope the police station hasn't suffered from our absence. Is Lassie missing me?"

"No, no," she shook her head. "Everything's just fine," she smirked. The only way to make Carlton Lassiter in a better mood was if criminals just starting turning themselves in. Although the smiling was starting to creep her out, it was wasn't natural.

"Well you know where we are if you do need us," he put two fingers to his right temple, "Which I'm sensing…will be really soon."

Karen smirked but said nothing. She took another sip of her cooling drink and bit into the muffin with a moan.

Shawn smiled "Good muffin?" He asked.

"Oh yeah," she replied, swallowing her mouthful.

"I keep suggesting they make pineapple muffins, but they don't listen to me," Shawn shrugged slightly.

"Don't you ever get sick of pineapple?"

Shawn gasped dramatically, "I'll pretend you never said that."

Karen rolled her eyes. She had become used to Shawn's dramatics since meeting him two years ago but had yet to decided whether that was a good thing or not.

"Can I ask you something?" She began. It was a question that had been on the tip of her tongue for a while but it was either the wrong moment or Shawn's partner Gus was around.

Shawn's eyes narrowed and Karen could practically see the cogs working in his brain while he tried to work out what she was going to ask. "Go ahead."

"It's a hypothetical question," she started. His head tilted to one side and he stared at her. She almost blushed under the examining scrutiny. "Okay, so hypothetically...if being a psychic was an act. How exactly would you be solving these crimes?"

His eyes sparkled and she watched him suppress a smirk. "Since I'm not faking it, I couldn't possibly know how one would do that," he answered quickly.

He was good, she told himself. She had learned from the best how to tell when someone was lying. But for some reason, she'd never been able to read Shawn. It probably had something to do with both of them learning from the same man.

"It's just a hypothetical question, one that would…stay between the two of us," she tempted him.

He leaned forward and he stared at Karen. She recognized the look. It was the look of someone in control, someone who knew exactly what he was doing. She'd seen it directed at other people before and now it was directed it her. She could help but feel unsettled. "Why are you so interested?

She shrugged and shuffled in her seat at the harsh scrutiny. "I like puzzles, and you are the biggest puzzle of all."

"Okay." Shawn leaned back in his seat and clasped his hands together. "In a hypothetical world, a young _hypothetical_ boy had a cop for a father," Shawn began as if he was telling a story. "This cop wanted his son to follow in his _hypothetical_ footsteps, so taught him from an early age to notice what no-one else noticed."

Karen tilted her head to one side as she processed the story. "Then why not become a cop? Why not use what he taught you as a Detective, be taken seriously?"

Shawn laughed as if he'd just been told a funny joke. "Who said I ever wanted that?" He answered.

Karen looked down at the half finished muffin on her plate before looking back up at Shawn. "What's it like?" She asked curiously.

"I wouldn't know," Shawn replied with a half shrug as he slouched further into the chair, slinging his arm over the back of the chair casually. "It just normal to me; what I see, the way my mind works. It's second nature. I don't think about it, it just happens."

"I don't understand."

"I could tell you every item the guy one checkout counter over bought at the store. I could tell you every single license plate of every car I passed on my way to the office and I can tell you that the couple sitting behind you are cheating on each other, but neither know it. But I can't tell you what it's like to know all that because I've never known what it's like not to know all that."

Karen twisted her neck round and spotted the couple Shawn was talking about. They were sitting opposite each other, each holding a coffee and having what seemed like a normal conversation. She couldn't see what Shawn had noticed about the couple. She turned back round and smiled at Shawn. "It's not scary at all that you know all that," she said sarcastically.

"Now you're wondering what I've noticed about you," Shawn replied with a raised eyebrow.

Karen paused mid-sip. She hadn't been thinking about it before but now it was all she could think about. Had he known when she was fighting with her husband? Or when she'd barely slept because she'd spent most of the night in the baby's nursery scared because she knew what was out there in the world that could hurt baby Iris?

"Don't worry, this is all hypothetical remember? This conversation never happened," Shawn laughed and Karen knew the moment had disappeared, silly Shawn had returned. He lifted his mug to his lips and finished off his coffee. "I should get going, Gus doesn't know I'm here and he likes to limit my coffee intake"

Karen cleared her throat, "Can't guess why."

Shawn smiled but said nothing, he pushed his chair back and rose from his seat. "Remember now, this stays between us."

"I won't tell a soul," she promised

Shawn nodded, "Great." He began to walk away but she raised an eyebrow as he stopped, pivoted on the spot and turned back towards her. "We're good as long as I get results right?" He asked.

Karen smiled at the younger man, catching a glimpse of uncertainty in his eyes. Sure, he was a confident man, Karen realized it was probably because he always knew more that he let on, he had tricks up his sleeve, he had a silver tongue to get him out of trouble and his mind worked faster than anyone else's. But at the same time she was sure that the job meant more to him then he would ever let on and losing it would hit him "You keep Detective Lassiter on his toes, and keep putting the bad guys behind bars, we won't have a problem," she replied.

Shawn grinned, "I knew there was a reason I liked you." He spun back around and strutted off.

Karen turned back to her coffee, now almost cold. She grasped the mug and lifted it to her lips and groaned as her cell rang. She knew it was work. Her fifteen minutes of freedom were up. She fished into her jacket pocket for the ringing item and pushed it against her ear. "Vick," she answered, using her other hand to push the plate and mug away.


End file.
